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Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz
by
Peter Kuper
WHO SHOT WALTER KURTZ?
Nobody. Walter Kurtz doesn’t exist. He’s the alter ego of me, Peter Kuper. But, if he were real, perhaps his obituary would read something like this:
Walter Kurtz, illustrator and self-exposing cartoonist, dies of embarrassment at 48.
Walter Alan Kurtz, born September 22,1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Harvey and Olive Kurtz (an Ellis Island rewrite from K ...more
Nobody. Walter Kurtz doesn’t exist. He’s the alter ego of me, Peter Kuper. But, if he were real, perhaps his obituary would read something like this:
Walter Kurtz, illustrator and self-exposing cartoonist, dies of embarrassment at 48.
Walter Alan Kurtz, born September 22,1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Harvey and Olive Kurtz (an Ellis Island rewrite from K ...more
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Community Reviews
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Ick.
I didn't finish it so perhaps I shouldn't rate it, but I didn't finish it because I found it to be pretty dreadful. Guy talking about being a comic artist, something of a fictionalized memoir all about being a nerd as a kid, doing a lot of drugs, trying to get laid. There are parts that take place in the present, with his wife, with his old friend, kind of connecting the flashbacks. The third of the book I read I find to be smug, self-absorbed, cliched, creepily objectifying of women. I've r ...more
I didn't finish it so perhaps I shouldn't rate it, but I didn't finish it because I found it to be pretty dreadful. Guy talking about being a comic artist, something of a fictionalized memoir all about being a nerd as a kid, doing a lot of drugs, trying to get laid. There are parts that take place in the present, with his wife, with his old friend, kind of connecting the flashbacks. The third of the book I read I find to be smug, self-absorbed, cliched, creepily objectifying of women. I've r ...more
I would have called it two stars, but Peter Kuper is a really talented artist, with all the brilliant woodcut work in his version of The Metamorphisis, his version with David Mazzucchelli of Paul Auster's City of Glass, rich, sophisticated, nuanced, insightful, helping us rethink the nature of narrative... brilliant artwork.. and the art in this story, which is essentially the autobiography of Kuper, depicting Kurtz as a kind of alter-ego (?) , and for what reason, and it is really not that funn
...more
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the only thing worse than hearing one of your friends brag about his acid trips is hearing two of your friends brag about their adorable baby. Similarly, the only kind of autobiographical comic I dread reading more than the teenage drug fiend story is the "let's have a baby" story. The hipster and the bourgeoisie are the twin horns of lame, and these two emblematic narratives are like their spoor, left behind when they pass.
So Peter Kuper's Stop Forget ...more
So Peter Kuper's Stop Forget ...more
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Hace poco empecé a leer novela gráfica y me he convertido en fan. La novela gráfica a diferencia del comic es una historia de extensión larga, ilustrada por viñetas y escrita por un solo autor (apuesto a que hay muchas más diferencias, pero esta definición me pareció muy práctica).
Hay alguien del que me he enamorado perdidamente Peter Kuper, él ha colaborado en publicaciones como Newsweek, Time, The New York Times y MAD (revista en la que dibuja la tira Spy vs.Spy) además de ser autor de numeros ...more
Hay alguien del que me he enamorado perdidamente Peter Kuper, él ha colaborado en publicaciones como Newsweek, Time, The New York Times y MAD (revista en la que dibuja la tira Spy vs.Spy) además de ser autor de numeros ...more
An autobiography of cartoonist Peter Kuper, billed as "The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz," is a step or two removed from the author. In fact, it is also removed from the readership.
Kuper, famed New York-based cartoonist behind such as Sticks and Stones, Give it Up! and Other Stories by Franz Kafka, and Stripped , hides behind his alter ego of Walt Kurtz, presumably for reasons of privacy (more specifically, that of the secondary characters herein). However, he also relies heavily on the use of st ...more
Kuper, famed New York-based cartoonist behind such as Sticks and Stones, Give it Up! and Other Stories by Franz Kafka, and Stripped , hides behind his alter ego of Walt Kurtz, presumably for reasons of privacy (more specifically, that of the secondary characters herein). However, he also relies heavily on the use of st ...more
It seems that if you have read one autobiographical comic you may have read them all.
As a rule of thumb (so that you know) comic artists and cartoonists live very boring lives enriched only by tattle tale sex lives that they illustrate very well on paper. Everyone of them will complain about the industry and go on about their struggle as artists.
That's the males, anyway.
After you've read a few they seem so same ole same ole -- often varying only in their penchant for misogyny.
Peter Kuper's eff ...more
As a rule of thumb (so that you know) comic artists and cartoonists live very boring lives enriched only by tattle tale sex lives that they illustrate very well on paper. Everyone of them will complain about the industry and go on about their struggle as artists.
That's the males, anyway.
After you've read a few they seem so same ole same ole -- often varying only in their penchant for misogyny.
Peter Kuper's eff ...more
This one has been on my to-read list for a long time, and what finally prompted me to get off my ass and read it was Kuper's brief bio of Harvey Kurtzman in the new Masterful Marks collection. And as with that bio, this "autobiography" -- Kuper frames his own story as a fiction, in many ways -- is presented in an unconventional manner, which is one of the narrative's greatest strengths. The last 1/5 of the book becomes less reflective of the past (and the implications of that in the present) and
...more
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant graphic novel, autobiography of the artist. A 50ish guy reflects on growing up in the 60s, school, marriage, children, trying to earn a living, drugs, sex, politics, friendship, . . . everything. I loved every minute of this. Every guy in that certain age bracket will identify with many parts of this story.
And the art is a joy to behold as well!
And the art is a joy to behold as well!
Peter Kuper segue neste livro a tão americana tradição do comic auto-biográfico. Misturando reminiscências da adolescência com reflexões sobre momentos íntimos da vida contemporânea,
Stop Forgetting to Remember
segue à risca o cânone deste género de banda desenhada tão querida dos criadores independentes americanos. Mas deste autor espera-se mais do que recordações de charros fumados, reminiscências de antigas namoradas ou colisões com o mundo das fraldas. O artifício de criar uma autobiografia
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Even for an alter-ego, Walter Kurtz seems to be drawn dangerously close to the reality of artist-author Peter Kuper, but the obscured lines between fact and fiction serves to ground the story and make it accessible to anyone who reads it.
Walter narrates the reflections on his past, leaving no humiliating detail unexamined, starting with his hormone- and drug-fueled adolescence. The pains of growing up are interspersed with his pains of being grown up: parenthood, losing touch with old friends an ...more
Walter narrates the reflections on his past, leaving no humiliating detail unexamined, starting with his hormone- and drug-fueled adolescence. The pains of growing up are interspersed with his pains of being grown up: parenthood, losing touch with old friends an ...more
Jul 23, 2011
Peacegal
added it
I couldn't finish it.
Imagine: I'm happily pedaling along on the stationary bike, reading this book, when barely a dozen pages in--RRRRAAAAAARRRRKKKK! The demon storyline rears its ugly head yet again! I came this close to bursting out in tears right in the middle of the gym. I left in a hurry, hopped in my car and shoved the hated thing in the library's deposit chute before it could infect me further.
If only I could forget to remember. As it is, if I kept reading I was at risk to stop forgettin ...more
Imagine: I'm happily pedaling along on the stationary bike, reading this book, when barely a dozen pages in--RRRRAAAAAARRRRKKKK! The demon storyline rears its ugly head yet again! I came this close to bursting out in tears right in the middle of the gym. I left in a hurry, hopped in my car and shoved the hated thing in the library's deposit chute before it could infect me further.
If only I could forget to remember. As it is, if I kept reading I was at risk to stop forgettin ...more
There's plenty in this that seems all too familiar ...another graphic novel by a comic artist about a comic artist..about singles scene...about coming of age...teenage masturbation and drugs..troubles with women etc. But despite all this, i really enjoyed it. Kuper's cleverness humour and honesty save him. His attitude to women is not misogynist (as one reviewer below says) it's honest- and this is a good book to see a man's point of view. I don;t love his art which often feels boxy and stiff, b
...more
The autobiography of Walter Kurtz, but really an only slightly fictionalized version of the life of Peter Kuper. Really one of the better graphic novels I've read in a while. Covers all the normal territory of autobio-gns, but the art is so sophisticated and the content is well thought out, meta-treated, and downright deep. Quality stuff. Read it in one sitting. I especially appreciated Kuper's integration of experimental techniques (elements of fantasy/magic realism, creative use of color...) i
...more
This guy is a dick. I had picked this up since it was a graphic novel. When I was flipping through it he (towards the end of the novel) talks about parenthood and it sparked my interest. I read it yesterday and I'm still pissed. He has no respect for women and it makes me sick to my stomach that he has a daughter that someday might read his vacant, self-serving, diatribe that reeks of disrespect for women. Women are not stepping stones on your path through life Peter Kuper, (or things to ogle li
...more
I really liked this book - I will probably buy it sometime. The idea is really cool and is carried out with the art very well. Essentially, the writer is getting married and having a child and doesn't want to forget his sometimes awkward/embarrassing past. The present is drawn in black and white; the past is red and white. Extremely honest and open while almost making fun of himself, the story is entertaining, to say the least. Lots of sex and drug use for those worried about it, but a really go
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This book has all of the stuff I like most from Peter Kuper - not too political, though there's a little of that, and funny. It's a pretty quick read. I'm not so sure about having the book talk about trying to get the book published - maybe a little too self referential - and there was definitely room to develope alot of things he didn't, like fatherhood, reactions to Bush, etc. so maybe there'll be a follow up some day.
I'm a sucker for graphic novels, especially those that are autobiographical. Except I yearn for GN's that aren't so resolutely male - the never-ending references to masturbation, big tits, a wife who doesn't put out enough...I guess these are real concerns and likely strike a chord with someone other than me. But when you're chronicling becoming a Father, aren't there other things to talk about? Maybe?
First, the title is great. Second, I was not disappointed in the real life story of the guy who superbly inked and adapted the Kafka short story, The Hunger Artist, in Give It Up! A chronic pot head and comicbook reading, masturbating teen in the 70's, a perpectual doormat boyfriend in the eighties, and a pissed off new dad in the 90's, this is a deliciously salacious memoir.
This book was terrific. I picked it up while randomly perusing the excellent graphic novel selection in the Redmond library and struck gold. I can't give it 5 stars because it's yet another coming of age book, excellently done. I have said it before and I will say it again. If it wasn't for the coming of age story, graphic novels wouldn't exist. Let's try something else guys ...
Kuper was also at the UND Writers Conference this year and that is what led me to read one of his books. I actually saw him read and THEN bought the book. I didn't love this one (more than a little explicit in parts) but I enjoy the genre and I liked what he had to say about art and graphic novels and politics.
Well-structured book, although maybe a little too...male centered for me. The female characters were never really fleshed out like the men. This is my first encounter with Peter Kuper's work. The art didn't really grab me, but I found the pigeon that flitted between the chapters to be endearing.
What initially got me interested in this very cool graphic novel spanning several years in the life of the author was the masterful use of the comics vehicle to tell a life story, to embellish things, then to show them as they really were. This book is a little gem.
Kuper is a fantastic artist and, with this graphic novel, shows himself to be an excellent writer as well. He manages to mix the memoir with introspection without being overbearing and hysterical, a quality many graphic memoirists would do well to develop.
Autobiografía ambientada en Nueva York que abarca varias facetas del autor, especialmente las relacionadas con el sexo (o la iniciación al mismo) y las drogas. Me suelen gustar este tipo de historias y esta no me ha decepcionado nada.
As far as graphic novels go, not one of my top picks. Enjoyable enough to read, particularly in some of the more compelling flashbacks, but I found the whole thing a little self-indulgent, particularly the ending.
Autobiográfica, onírica y a ratos emocionante, la novela gráfica de Peter Kuper es una revisión lo más honesta posible de aciertos y errores que invita de paso a ahondar en nuestros propios pasos.
This was my first graphic novel and I have to say, I loved it. I never knew how fast graphic novels read - I will have to take my time with the next one. This one went way too fast!
Very much a grown-up graphic novel, though not really about being a grown-up. Actually about memories of growing up and learning about sex and drugs.
Quite enjoyed this I have no idea if this is a great graphic novel or not but I certainly related to it
this was a fun adventure. i love peter kuper and this was a fun read into his "life"
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American alternative cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations.
Kuper's work in comics and illustration frequently combines techniques from both disciplines, and often takes the form of wordless comic strips. Kuper remarked on this, "I initially put comics on one side and my illustration in another compartment, but over the years I found th ...more
More about Peter Kuper...
Kuper's work in comics and illustration frequently combines techniques from both disciplines, and often takes the form of wordless comic strips. Kuper remarked on this, "I initially put comics on one side and my illustration in another compartment, but over the years I found th ...more
